Philip Sparke's 2024 European Championship set-work, 'A Road Less Travelled' will be the test-piece for the elite level Premier Grade contenders at the 2026 Yamaha Australian National Brass Band Championships.

Ghosts of Industry

The event to be held in Brisbane from the 2nd to 5th April was to have featured Lucy Pankhurst's 'The Ghosts of Industry'.

It had already been performed at the 2025 First Section North American Brass Band Championship contest, and had gained widespread critical acclaim after being performed by Athena Brass at the 2025 RNCM International Brass Band Festival.

4BR understands the work was specifically written for First Section level band contesting.

The first Premier Grade contest was held in 2024 in Victoria and was set up to address the apparent disparity between the playing standards of top-ranked and bottom-ranked bands competing across all Open Brass grades.

It has since become a permanent contest at the National Championships. The 2025 winner from a six band field was Sydney Brass conducted by Jason Katsikaris.

Leading voices

However, just a few days after the initial announcement was made on 31st August, the Australian National Band Championships announced that following discussion with "leading voices in the banding community" the work had been dropped in favour of Sparke's work.

The works in the other sections will remain the same. The adjudicator for the event has been confirmed as Russell Gray.

Set Works

Premier Grade: A Road Less Travelled (Philip Sparke)
A Grade: Toccata e Fantasia (Thomas Doss)
B Grade: Prisms (Peter Graham)
C Grade: Invisible Fire (Dr Dorothy Gates)
D Grade: The Keeper of the Winds (Benjamin Tubb-Hearne)